Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Declined, Dubois Variation
1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 d3 4. c4
The Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Declined, Dubois Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B21, reached after 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 d3 4. c4. It is a line of the Sicilian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 270 times by this move order. White won 50%, 7% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nc6 (42% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.40 (Stockfish, depth 37; best line 4… e5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. a3 Bc5 7. b4)
- ECO
- B21
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp1ppppp/8/8/2P1P3/3p4/PP3PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 d3 4. c4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 101 | |
| 2000+ | 167 | |
| All | 270 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nc6 | 113 (42%) | |
| 4… d6 | 65 (24%) | |
| 4… g6 | 33 (12%) | |
| 4… e6 | 25 (9%) | |
| 4… e5 | 10 (4%) | |
| 4… Nf6 | 8 (3%) | |
| 4… d2+ | 6 (2%) | |
| 4… Qc7 | 3 (1%) |
Master games
217 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 16%, Black 46%). The strongest:
- FM Deniz Arman (2371) – GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2687) 1-0 · Titled Tue 5th Nov Late · 2024-11-05
- GM Anthony Wirig (2515) – IM Arnaldo Fernandez De La Vara (2462) 0-1 · Titled Tue 11th Oct Early · 2022-10-11
- GM Klementy Sychev (2556) – IM Matthew J Wadsworth (2413) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 28th Sept · 2021-09-28
- FM Ulugbek Tillyaev (2287) – GM Maksim Chigaev (2632) 0-1 · Titled Tue 21st Mar Early · 2023-03-21
- FM Gabriel Gaehwiler (2360) – GM Aleksandar Indjic (2554) 0-1 · World Junior Open 2014 · 2014-10-11
Highest-rated Lichess games
- vdinsk52 (2554) – QVC64 (2531) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- vdinsk52 (2540) – Newcomer81 (2512) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- vdinsk52 (2550) – Ahmed-abdelsattar (2483) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Sicilian Defense: Smith-Morra Gambit Declined, Push Variation 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 d3
More Sicilian Defense lines (all)
- Sicilian Defense (1. e4 c5) B20
- Sicilian Defense: Amazon Attack B20
- Sicilian Defense: Big Clamp Formation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Bowdler Attack B20
- Sicilian Defense: Brick Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Czerniak Attack B20
- Sicilian Defense: Czerniak Attack, Queen Fianchetto Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Euwe Attack, Prins Gambit B20
- Sicilian Defense: Gloria Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Grob Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: Keres Variation B20
- Sicilian Defense: King David's Opening B20
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.